Juliana Taiwo
13 June 2006
Abuja — The newly elected executives of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) executives led, by Comrade Femi Osaibinu of the Federal University of Technology, Akure have vowed to fight corrupt Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts.
Osaibinu who is NANS 25th President who made the vow at his inaugural press briefing stressed that rather than celebrate political parties, the association will resist any political party that may want to use students come 2007 to stabilise the elections or the system.
"This is revolutionary awakening. We intend to go back to campuses to fight corrupt Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts. We are not going to celebrate political parties. No, we will not be tied to any of them and will not hesitate to resist any that would want to use us", he said.
He promised that the exco would hold the government accountable, adding that if this had been the case, the country would have been the better for it. "We have resolved to move Nigerian students forward from the stranglehold of opportunists and agent provocateur who have turned the association into machineries and thugs", he said.
While urging the Federal government to invest more in education, Osaibinu pleaded with administrators of tertiary institutions to reconsider their stand on all politically victimized students and unban proscribed unions.
It would be recalled that NANS Convention was delayed for two months due to internal wrangling involving the immediate past President, Kenneth Hembe, who tried to alter the association's constitution to enable him elongate his tenure.
Speaking at the briefing, President of West African Student Union (WASU), Comrade Daniel Onjeh commended NANS for ensuring that the constitution was adhered to and the new executives were democratically elected according to the wish of the students. He stressed that 90 per cent of the crises in Africa were due to power struggle because one individual tried to alter documents that would enable him maintain a strong hold on a country or association.
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